Canaletto, 'London: Interior of the Rotunda at Ranelagh', 1754

London: Interior of the Rotunda at Ranelagh

Canaletto

Room 37

About the work

Overview

This painting shows the inside of the famous rotunda (demolished in 1805) at Ranelagh Gardens in Chelsea. Ranelegh opened in 1742 as one of London’s most prestigious pleasure gardens, and its main attraction was this vast circular building in which fashionable society could attend balls and listen to music.

To the right, an orchestra performs, catching the attention of a small crowd. We look down on the elegant clientele, which, along with the light that floods the space, emphasises the building’s loftiness. Canaletto’s theatrical lighting highlights the curvature of the building and sparkles on the delicate chandeliers. We aren't just watching the concert – we watch the men, women and children scattered across an enormous stage.

Canaletto painted this work in 1754, towards the end of his nine years in England. He had dominated the London market for view paintings – no other artist, native or foreign, could compare to him.

In-depth

This painting shows the inside of the famous rotunda at Ranelagh Gardens in Chelsea. Ranelagh opened in 1742 as one of London’s most prestigious pleasure gardens, and its main attraction was this vast circular building in which fashionable society could attend balls and listen to music (the young Mozart even performed there in 1764). Despite the popularity of these grand pavilions and formal gardens during the eighteenth century, they fell out of fashion as the century progressed; the rotunda closed in 1803 and was demolished in 1805.

Made almost entirely of wood, the rotunda had an internal diameter of 150 feet and contained 100 private supper-boxes. Concerts were performed on a grand stage – and here, to the right, an orchestra plays, filling the cavernous space with music. They catch the attention of a small crowd while other visitors sit around tables, enjoying refreshment under the colonnade (admission fee included a cup of tea or coffee). Small groups stroll around the central column, which is exquisitely painted and gilded with Rococo motifs, and encases a huge fireplace that would entice visitors during wet and chilly weather.

We look down on the elegant clientele, which, along with the light that floods the space, emphasises the building’s loftiness. While sunlight peeks through a doorway on the left, it’s not strong enough to fill the room, and is too low to light the walls and central column in the way we see. Instead, Canaletto’s theatrical lighting comes from the upper left corner, highlighting the smooth curvature of the roof, archways and windows, and sparkling on the delicate chandeliers. We are not just watching the concert – we watch the men, women and children scattered across the scene, as if on an enormous stage. They too provide a sense of the building’s scale.

An inscription in Italian on the back states that the picture was painted in 1754 during Canaletto’s stay in England, during which he dominated the London market for view paintings – no other artist, native or foreign, could compare to him. This is one of six views commissioned by Thomas Hollis, a close friend of Joseph Smith, Canaletto’s loyal patron, and one of many British travellers who had likely become captivated by the artist’s work during their trips to Venice.

This view relates closely to a print by Nathaniel Parr, An Inside View of the Rotunda in Ranelagh Gardens, published in 1751 – around the same time as Canaletto’s earlier version of this subject taken from the opposite side of the interior (Compton Verney, Warwickshire). One other painting in our collection dates from Canaletto’s time in England: Eton College.

Key facts

Details

Full title: London: Interior of the Rotunda at Ranelagh
Artist: Canaletto
Artist dates: 1697 - 1768
Date made: 1754
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 47 × 75.6 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1894
Inventory number: NG1429
Location: Room 37
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 19th-century English Frame

Provenance

Painted for Thomas Hollis in 1754. By him bequeathed in 1774 to Thomas Brand. Bequeathed by him in 1804 to the Rev. John Disney; passed in 1816 to his son, John Disney. Exhibited at the British Institution, 1841 (no. 92), while in his collection. Bequeathed in 1857 to his son, Edgar Disney. Exhibited at the British Institution, 1864 (no. 166), while in his collection. Anonymous (Mrs. Disney) sale, London, 3 May 1884 (lot 129), bought by Reynolds, F. D. Reynolds sale, London, 15 July 1893 (lot 62), bought by Buttery. Purchased from H. Buttery in 1894.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Michael Levey, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2012

Garden Open Today: 300 Years of Garden Visiting

Garden Museum

23 April 2012 - 24 June 2012

Bibliography

1809

A Catalogue of Some Marbles….at the Hyde, Near Ingatestone, Essex: The Greater Part Successively the Property of T.H… and Now of J.D, London 1809
1899

H. Horne, 'An Inquiry into Two Pictures Recently Acquired for the National Gallery', Magazine of Art, 1899, pp. 241-6
1920

H.F. Finberg, 'Canaletto in England', The Walpole Society, IX, 1921, pp. 41-4
1923

W.G. Constable, 'Some Unpublished Canalettos', The Burlington Magazine, XLII, 1923, pp. 278-8
1927

E. Panofsky, 'Die Perspective als symbolische Form', in Vorträge der Bibliothek Warburg, Leipzig 1927, pp. 258-330
1949

A.C. Sewter, 'Another English Canaletto', The Burlington Magazine, 1949
1954

V. Moschini, Canaletto. Testo di Vittorio Moschini, Milan 1954
1954

F.J.B. Watson, Canaletto, revised edn, London 1954
1956

Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1956
1971

M. Levey, The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1971
1974

A. Corboz, 'Sur la prétendue objectivité de Canaletto', Arte veneta, XXVIII, 1974, pp. 205-18
1976

W.G. Constable and J.G. Links, Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697-1768, revised edn, Oxford 1976
1977

J.G. Links, Canaletto and His Patrons, London 1977
1982

T.V. Doria et al., Canaletto. Disegni - Dipinti - Incisioni (exh. cat. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, San Giorgio Maggiore, 25 July - 17 October 1982), Venice 1982
1985

A. Corboz, Canaletto: Una Venezia immaginaria, Milan 1985
1986

Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1986
1987

M. Warner, The Image of London: Views by Travellers and Emigrés 1550-1920 (exh. cat. Barbican Art Gallery, 6 August - 18 October 1987), London 1987
1989

W.G. Constable and J.G. Links, Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal, 1697-1768, 3rd edn, Oxford 1989
1989

K. Baetjer and J.G. Links, Canaletto, (exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 30 October 1989 - 21 January 1990), New York 1989
1992

G. Beard, The Complete Gentleman: Five Centuries of Aristocratic Life, New York 1992
1993

J.H. Whitfield, The Englishness of Canaletto, Birmingham 1993
1993

M. Liversidge and J. Farrington, Canaletto and England, (exh. cat. Birmingham CMuseum and Art Gallery, 14 October 1993 - 9 January 1994), Birmingham 1993
1994

J.G. Links, Canaletto, revised edn, London 1994
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

Insights

Boodles jewellery designer Rebecca Hawkins and landscape designer Catherine MacDonald meet Gallery educator Belle Smith to discuss Canaletto’s 'London: Interior of the Rotunda at Ranelagh'.

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